Highline Update

Mansfield Coffee Roasters’ Gravity Enduro


Hosted at Highline

The final round of the Victorian Enduro Tour for 2022 is fast approaching and will be held on the weekend of 5-6 November.
 Spaces are still available for the Kid's Enduro Race - ages 8-12 years.
 Register today.  

This is the perfect opportunity to ride at this private bike park and explore the trail network.
 There will be five fun courses on offer, all with their own flavour and style of riding.


Registration for general categories is full, however there are plenty of opportunities to join the action as either a spectator or volunteer. You can't beat the high energy and positive vibes of a mountain biking event!


We are currently recruiting volunteers and need your help!
 As a valued Highline volunteer, you will receive one entry into the VOLUNTEER PRIZE DRAW for every 4-hour shift completed.

1st PRIZE:
 Private 3 hour skills session with Gravity Oz. Valued at $275. 
 


2nd PRIZE:
 eMTN bike hire at Mt Buller for one day. Valued at $160. 
 


3rd PRIZE:
 Guaranteed entry for the Gravity race at Highline Mountain Bike Festival in March 2023. Valued at $150.
 
 

Your assistance is greatly appreciated and makes this type of event possible. Click here to to register as a volunteer.

Wet weekend news

News on all three of our weekly events below…

Dirt Critters

Tim gives the ‘troups’ a pre-ride briefing. Probably no accident that Luke’s new bike gets in the pic too!

An unexpectedly large group of twenty four primary schoolers turned up for the second week of Dirt Critters on Tuesday night.

Explore Rifle Butts was the theme for the day. An older group led by Luke ventured to the top taking in the entire XC Loop plus some other runs.

The younger group led by Tim did a couple of laps of Bogans Beginnings before braving the bridge to finish with Critters.

Dirt Critters exists for primary school age kids to build confidence and skills on their bikes in a fun environment.

This coming week is a Skills Night at Rifle Butts Reserve. Call Luke on 0455 604 785 for more details.

Dirt Crits

Another big night of ‘handicap’ Cross Country racing at Rifle Butts with 20 entrants for the Zac Empey designed XC course.

Even though there weren’t as may laps required as last week under the tutelage of his sadistic father, Zac still required most riders to do 7 or 8 laps, with the ‘honour’ of hardest handicap going to Ruby Dobson who was set 9 laps.

The jury is still out on whether it was pure coincidence that the winner was Zac’s older brother Matthew.

2nd went to this week’s Most Improved, Elijah McGuigan. Ant Bateup, Archie Smith and Ryder Chadd completed the podium.

Here are the results.

Many thanks to Mel and Zac for officiating and to Elijah for the entertainment of landing so badly on the jumps afterwards!

Ryder does it again!

By Janine Appleton

Low wind and low 20's made for perfect conditions for the start of our second race. To minimise danger, our Commissionaire, Bruce Halket, forwarded our start line past the Owen's Creek bridge, dropping 1.5km off the course, a marginal reduction to the original 25km handicapped race. With two riders from Seymour, Andrew Garrett and Jake Lay in Scratch and Block, the locals were keen to show our visitors a good time with friendly bunch racing.

Due to my solo ride in the first race, finishing 10 minutes behind the leader, I was fortunate to start in the largest group of the night, with four others: Jason Parker, Justin Berry, Ryder Chadd and Craig Wilson, two minutes behind Ian Conrick and John Eisner and seven minutes behind Micala Jacobs. My priority was to keep Ryder safe, reinforcing good group riding skills such as bike positioning and communicating when there are cars behind/in front or road dangers.  

At the turn around at Cummins Road, our group were leading the race and our chances were promising with about two minutes lead on the group of Darren Bakker, Michael Pearce and Ant Bateup, with the last two bunches another minute or two further behind.  The approaching rolling hills always have the effect of sorting out the group with heart rates climbing and legs weakening. I knew the adolescent legs of Ryder had a higher muscle mass than mine and he had been at the back of the group for the final 3km. The more unknown was what did Jason and Justin had left.  

When Ryder stood up and accelerated over 10 pedal strokes with 300 metres to go, all I could do is get into his slipstream and stay tucked while at my full speed. Jason, Justin and Craig were close behind in 3rd, 4th and 5th with Steve Brown leading the next group including Jake Lay, Ant Bateup, and Steve Duke 45 seconds behind. Josh Hopwood inched out Andrew Garrett for the fastest time.

Many thanks to our volunteers for marshaling on corners to stop riders, lead and tail cars, and at start/finish lines. Our highest priority is to make our events safe for our participants and other road users, choosing courses that then need to be approved for a permit by Victoria Police, Vic Roads, and our local council.

Results can be found here.

Every week, we should also be thanking all the other road users in Mansfield for their patience and courteous behaviour when encountering any cyclist out on the road, a single cyclist or a group of two or more on any day. We thank you for giving us 1.5 metres on roads in excess of 60 km/hr when passing. We thank you for slowing down for a few hundred metres until it is safe to pass. We thank you for looking out for us at intersections. We ride for our physical and mental health, being members of the Mansfield community - we could be your tradie, your child's primary school teacher, your pharmacist, or your firefighter.   

If you think you would like to do a bit more cycling, would like to know a bit more about the club that is “the social club with a cycling problem" or want to give racing a go with a free 4-week trial membership, please send an email to mmbcc.info@gmail.com

Mid-October update

Dan, Darren and the Pope.

By Dave Empey

The first Dirt Crits for the 22/23 season was held last Tuesday night with a big crowd of newcomers. It was a 12-lap, first-past-the-post race which made it easy to see who had been riding over winter and who’s been putting in the ‘hard’ work on the couch. 

The race started off with Elise Empey taking most of the field on the wrong track. However, after she stopped and consulted Google Maps, this was soon rectified.

Dan Friday took line honours in 44.53. In typical Dan Friday fashion, he complained about not having ridden much lately and promptly rode away from everyone else. 

Second went to Archie Smith in an impressive ride; all the more impressive considering he complains about riding uphill and still hasn’t mastered clipping into his pedals without holding onto a tree!

Third place went to last week’s road race winner, Ryder Chadd, the most versatile MMBCC racer of the (one week old) season so far. In contrast to Archie, Ryder can clip into his pedals but complains about riding downhill.

It was great to see so many new faces and a very competitive race. Here are the results.

Recent Dirt Crits stalwart Darren Bakker was missed - maybe he just didn’t get the memo. Or maybe it was like that time Hawthorn won the flag three years in a row and he was found three days later at the Lost Dogs Home with with his arms around an Irish Wolf Hound and a vacant stare in his eyes. Hopefully, we’ll find out what happened at next Tuesday’s XC race at Rifle Butts.

Dirt Critters also started last Tuesday with about a dozen Primary School aged kids having a great time improving their bike skills. To join in and more details call Luke on 0455 604 785.

Finally, the Thursday night road race was cancelled in the morning due to the forecast of heavy rain. Hopefully next week’s race on Howes Creek Road can go ahead and that the compulsory mask, snorkel and flippers won’t an aerodynamic hindrance. Entries via Entry Boss.

For up-to-date information on race status, join the club’s WhatsApp group. (And we’re still using Team App for messages too.) You’ll find out all sorts of interesting stuff on riding, racing and club members. For instance, did you know former club President Craig Wilson once met the Pope? It was when John Paul II visited the US in 1993. Wil was lost on his way to a KKK convention and he asked the nearest bloke in a white robe for directions. Wil offered him a beer as a thank you but JP declined, he only drank red.

A Perfect Introduction

After the usual Winter hiatus from racing, allowing Mother Nature to give Mansfield many millimetres of rain, Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club held its first club race of the season on Thursday evening. 

Conditions were perfect with the rain holding out all day allowing the roads to be safe and dry. A light NE breeze gave the riders just enough of a headwind for the first half of the race on the Mansfield-Whitfield Road to sort out who’d been doing their pre-season training and who’d been in a good paddock. 

With entries opening up from Monday to Wednesday for racing Thursday, not knowing if if it was going to be wet or dry, numbers were modest, made up mostly of weathered die-hards and one new comer. 

The 15 riders for the evening were sent out in the staggered format of the handicap - sent out at 16, 14, 8, 4 minutes and Scratch. First to go was Tony Morris at 16 minutes. The first bunch made up by John Eisner, David Jagger, Micala Jacobs and Ryder Chadd turned out to be the perfect introduction to Road Racing that anyone could ask for, with John taking Ryder under his wing with tips and hints to keep him and his fellow riders safe and fast to the turnaround before sending Ryder in his way. Micala and David were dropped to complete their ‘timed social ride’ without incident. 

Craig Wilson, Ian Conrick and Jason Parker made up the next group, sent out at 8 minutes. Darren Bakker, Mick Pearce, Janine Appleton and Rob Skinner followed not so closely at 4 minutes and the final 3 fastest riders, Steve Brown, Steve Duke and Dave Moore were off Scratch. 

The field did their time into the headwind out to the turn-around point at Sawpit Gully Road with groups starting to catch up to others around the 3/4 mark of about 18kms. 

You know the handicapper has done a decent job when the majority of the field finishes within a few minutes of each other. The exception was Ryder who finished well clear. A gaggle of riders then finished within 3 minutes of each other with Bakker (2nd) and Skinner (3rd) rounding out the podium. Fastest for the evening was Steve Duke at 42m49sec. 

In a change of club communication policy, from now on second place each week will be given the ‘honour’ of writing the week’s race round up. But as Ryder won so easily, the policy change was postponed for a week as a ‘reward’.

As always, a big thank you to our volunteer marshals and commissaires and to the Mansfield Hotel for donations and hosting presentations.

Here are the results.

Next week’s race will be around the Barwite Loop; online entries open on Monday morning and close Wednesday night - go to www.mmbcc.org.au for more details.

Dirt Crits is back this week!

The first night of Dirt Crits will be this coming Tuesday 11 October. It starts with XC racing at Rifle Butts MTB Park at 6pm - get there a bit early so we can start on time.

The full 2022/2023 Dirt Crits schedule is on the Events Calendar now.

Dirt Critters is back too!

Want your primary school kids to develop bike skills and confidence in an informal setting?

It all starts this coming Tuesday at Rifle Butts MTB Park, kicking off at 4.30pm, with Tim Ross and Luke Vivash - plus a few guest instructors from time to time. There will be a mix of skills development, timed rides, a couple of rides at other venues and plenty of ‘just riding for fun’.

There is NO COST to attend each week - the only requirement is that all riders must have an AusCycling membership. Click here to go to the Join Now page and follow the AusCycling links. An AusCycling membership is valid for 12 months and costs $60 for 7yo and under; $85 for 8 to 12yo. For those who haven’t previously had a membership, a free, four-week ‘come and try’ membership is available. It will run for about 45 minutes each week until mid-December (and then again in term 1 next year.)

The schedule for term 4 is on the Events Calendar now.

Contact dirtcrits@gmail.com or call Luke on 0455 604 785 for more information.

Missing numbers

We seem to be missing a lot of our road race numbers. Got a road race number at home? Could you return it please?

Rrrrrrrracing!

It’s that time of year again!

Daylight Savings starts this weekend, it’s getting a little warmer, the magpies have been swooping for weeks, all the permits are in place, the training has been done (hopefully!) aaaand… the Summer Road Race Series will start this coming Thursday 6 October.

Yes… you read that right - road racing starts this coming week!

The first race will be a handicap on course 5 - from the Botanic Park out along Whitfield Road, turning around at Sawpit Gully Road, back towards town and finishing up at the Showgrounds.

In case you weren’t at the AGM, there are a few small changes for entering road races.

Entries

ALL entries will now be done through Entry Boss. It’s the system used by most Victorian clubs and should make life much easier for you to enter; and for our Handicapper, Dave Moore. (We’re no longer using the Team App for entries like we used last summer. More on Team App soon…)

Each week entries open on Monday morning and close at 8pm on Wednesday.

Calendar

The Summer Road Race Series calendar is on the website now. Yep, the whole lot.

- There’s an Event Calendar entry on the website for each race, with a link on the Home page; and

- There’s an Entry Boss listing for each race under Mansfield Mt Buller CC.

Duty Roster

The roster for Marshals and Commissaires for each and every race is also published. Each Entry Boss page has the roster for that race. The Events Calendar entry for each race also has the roster. Plus there’s a separate page with the whole season’s roster.

Please check to see when you’re rostered on.

For info on what’s required for duty, have a read of the Road Racing Info page.

Latest News

The change from Team App means we’ll no longer publish the club newsletter on there either.

The most direct way to find out club news is by subscribing to a direct email on the right hand side of the website Home page. Otherwise, we’ll also publish a link for each newsletter on Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp which will take you to the website too.

Hopefully you can find the most convenient one for you.

Dirt Crits

The first night of Dirt Crits will be Tuesday 11 October.

We should have a full calendar next week so keep an eye out for details shortly. We’ll also have news on Dirt Critters then too.

Finally…

A good little article about Elise, Ruby, Talia and the MMBCC on the AusCycling website.

Reminder...

2022 AGM this Wednesday

The MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held this coming Wednesday 14 September, in the function room at the Mansfield Hotel.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7pm.

But due to other events on the same evening, we’ve already been heard from a few people who’ll be a bit later than that. So it’ll start as soon as sensible.

Bookings are available for dinner from 6pm but you have to book! RSVP via email to Bruce today.

Spring has Sprung!

Awesome Results at MTB Worlds

Some sensational results at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets, France a few weeks ago.

In the Cross Country, Australia finished 14th in the Team Relay with Ruby Dobson riding the Junior Women lap. Ruby then finished an impressive 50th in the Junior Women XCO.

In the Downhill, Elise Empey finished an awesome 6th place in Junior Women Downhill.

Results can be found here.

On behalf of the whole club we’d like to say we’re really proud of the girls and the supportive efforts of both Team Empey and Team Dobson.

Congratulations to one and all!

2022 Annual General Meeting

The MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 14 September, in the function room at the Mansfield Hotel. The meeting will begin at 7pm.

Are there any changes you want the club to make?

Is there something not being done that you think should be done?

Is there something we’re doing you think we shouldn’t?

Want to get involved in the one of the sub-committees - road racing, mountain biking, recreational/social?

This is your chance to have your say and get involved!

We’ll also be announcing the recipients of the Rider Development Grants for this year.

Bookings are available for dinner from 6pm but an RSVP is required. You can do this via email to Bruce by Sunday 11 September.

2023 Mansfield Tour

It’s not confirmed yet but it looks likely the Tour will move to an earlier weekend in March 2023. Please make a note in your diary for the weekend of 4 & 5 March 2023, as we’ll be allocating your jobs for the weekend before you know it.

In the meantime, with many thanks to Kody Appleton, here’s a link to view a brilliant little video he’s put together at the 2022 Mansfield Hotel Tour p/b Orcoda to help us promote the 2023 Tour. Enjoy!

2022 AGM and RDG

2022 Annual General Meeting

The MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 14 September, in the function room at the Mansfield Hotel. The meeting will begin at 7pm.

Are there any changes you want the club to make?

Is there something not being done that you think should be done?

Is there something we’re doing you think we shouldn’t?

This is your chance to have your say and get involved!

Bookings are available for dinner from 6pm but an RSVP is required. You can do this via email to Bruce by Sunday 11 September.

2022-2023 Rider Development Grants

With thanks to the Australian Communities Foundation, the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club is accepting applications for Rider Development Grants for 2022-23. The Grants are designed to encourage and support the development of young riders, to assist with the cost of travel, accommodation, equipment or training.

Click on this link to the Documents page where you can download the Rider Development Grant PDF.

Applications are due by the end of August.

Upcoming Events

Mud Wars - Sat 13 & Sun 14 Aug, Beechworth. CX double-header.

Ronde van Taminick - Sun 14 Aug, Glenrowan. Organised by Carnegie Caulfield CC and AusCycling Vic, rather than Wangaratta CC.

Gravelista - Sun 4 Sep, Beechworth. Part of the UCI Gravel World Series

Amy’s Gran Fondo - Sun 11 Sep, Lorne. Has a gravel version on Saturday too!

Dirty Warrny - Sat 5 Nov, Geelong or Forrest to Warrnambool.

Winners are grinners!

Janine, Ant and Bruce - grinning!

Summer Presentations were held last Thursday at the Mansfield Hotel and here are the results:

Summer Road Racing Series

Bruce with Club President and Master of Ceremonies, Dave Empey.

Bruce Halket took the win ahead of last year’s winner Chris Miller, with Rob Skinner in third.

Many thanks to Dave Moore for a great job doing the handicapping and to the road committee (Janine Appleton, Alex Green, Dave Jagger, Dave Moore and John Eisner) for a terrific race calendar and loads o’ fun!

Below are the full points scores.

Women’s Road Racing Trophy

Janine Appleton was the highest placed woman over the Summer Road Series, ahead of the Cipa girls, Belinda and daughter Katie.

Dirt Crits

Ant Bateup was the most consistent in both Cross Country and Gravity races to take the overall win ahead of Luke Vivash and Zac Empey.

Many thanks to Dave and Kate, Alex and Mel and Clarissa for all their work. Plus thanks to Damian for filling in when he could.

Alain Guerin Memorial Crossover Trophy

Second placed Darren Bakker and winner, Ant Bateup, with the Alain Guerin Memorial Crossover Trophy.

In a hard-fought battle, Ant also took the Crossover Trophy ahead of Darren Bakker and Steve Curnow.

Coming up…

Here are the Entry Boss links to Eastern, Northern and Shepparton Cycling Clubs, which are still racing over winter.

The Vic CX Series is on too.

Amy’s Gran Fondo is coming up on 11 September.

Plus, there’s some road race around France coming up soon. The RIDE Media Tour Guide is at the newsagents now and Velogames tipping will be on too!

MMBCC June News

There’s been lots happening on two wheels for Aussies lately… Jai Hindley of Bora-Hansgrohe has won the Giro, Bec Henderson has won the first three rounds of the MTB World Cup, summertime Mansfield resident Grace Brown is in the Leader’s jersey at the Women’s Tour in Britain, Ruby Dobson is racing the Vic CX Series at Mt Beauty and Matt Empey is racing the World Cup DH in Leogang, Austria this weekend!

Read on for more from the MMBCC…

Image © Eurosport 2022

Presentation Night

Presentation of trophies from last summers’ series will be held this coming Thursday 16 June at the Mansfield Hotel. We’ll be crowning winners of Road Racing, Women’s Road Racing, Dirt Crits and the Crossover trophy. Dinner from 6.30 with presentations from about 7pm.

For dinner reservations, SMS Bruce on 0419 533 120 with number of diners by 5pm Wednesday.

We’ll also mention what we’re currently planning for next summer for road racing (similar calendar to this past summer but we’ve requested fewer cancellations due to thunderstorms in Spring), Dirt Crits (probably a few more Gravity races in the calendar), a possible new date for the 2023 Mansfield Tour and we might chat about a separate road gravel series in Autumn 2023.

2022 AGM

Keep an eye on the MMBCC News for details of the upcoming Annual General Meeting. This will be your chance to have your say on what you’d like to see the club doing.

Rider Development Grant

As in 2021, the MMBCC will be handing out the Rider Development Grant again in 2022 at the AGM. Keep an eye out for details soon on when applications open.

Mountain bike for sale

Steve Morgan is selling his Specialised Stumpjumper FSR Expert. This is a great bike!

And now for something completely different…

As Mansfield’s roads seem to get busier, here’s some interesting thoughts what can be done about traffic congestion, news on three-time Tour de France winner Greg Lemond, current Lotto-Soudal pro Harry Sweeney asking for road-racing advice plus Pink Bike Friday Fails.

STOP PRESS

Matt Empey has qualified 121st (out of 184) for Sunday’s World Cup DH final - with no chain, after breaking a derailleur hanger and not being able to find a replacement!!

Tour de Brisbane

The Australian Unity Tour de Brisbane was held recently and showcases Brisbane as an international cycling destination for anyone on a bike, from elite riders to weekend warriors, and families. The event is headlined by the UCI Gran Fondo World Series which is part of the internationally sanctioned series held all over the world.

The Tour de Brisbane is designed to bring the community together on two wheels to share some of the city’s iconic landmarks. The unique, closed road, inner-city course is offered over five distances and attracts participants of all abilities from all over Australia, Asia, and Europe.

The Tour de Brisbane Gran Fondo 110kms starts in the heart of Brisbane at Gregory Terrace and the Brisbane Showgrounds, and begins with a loop through the city, crossing the Brisbane River. The first part of the race goes south out of the city which is totally flat on major roads, before heading for the main difficulty of the race, Mount Coot-Tha, with a 2km climb at 9% with only 16kms before the finish.

Josh Hopwood from MMBCC made the trek north to Brisbane to test his form after a great summer of training and racing in other events. The Tour de Brisbane is a qualifying event for the World Amateur Championships to be held later this year in Italy. The focus for Hopwood would be to qualify for the World Championships and represent Australia. Everything was on track until Qantas lost his bike bag and it was pretty much impossible to get any information out of Qantas. As the time ticked by, its was now less than 10 hours until the start of the race. We did hear a few rumours that Hopwood was now enjoying his time in Brisbane with his wife and knocking back a few gins until hotel reception called with good news, “your bike has arrived”.

The mad rush had begun to build his bike and get to the start line for a 6.30am start. Generally, a warmup is key to any race, however with over 160 other racers, it would be a balancing act to get a warmup and get to the start line and be within the first few rows. The start was hectic, with traffic furniture and tight bends for riders to negotiate, this would ease off once the race got out on open roads. Many attacks would go off the front without any luck, the peloton was setting everything up for the climb of Mount Coot-Tha. Hopwood was riding a smart race, being near the front to avoid crashes and to jump on any attacks that might occur.

After 95kms of racing, the real race was about to kick off, the race started climbing Mount Coot-Tha and it was only the strong riders pushing to the front. Lucky for Hopwood, he was used to riding in the hills as he made the front group of 6 climbing Mount Coot-Tha where the racing was hot, one rider got off the front and ended up staying away to win the race, for the rest it was a sprint to the finish line. The last 500m was mainly downhill with a little kicker to the finish line, Hopwood came across the line in 5th place missing 2nd by 1 second. After a crazy 24hrs it was a fantastic achievement by Hopwood and now the big question would remain, would the stars align to race in Italy in September.

We look forward to part 2 of the Tour de Brisbane with Talia Appleton's race report!!

The Sawpit Gully Showdown - The Colt

There was movement at the Botanical Park for the word had passed around that the colt from Buttercup Lane was back in town. He had joined the Melbourne A-Grade riders and worth 300 watts. So all the Cracks had gathered to the fray. 

With Dan ‘The Colt’ Purcell lining up to show the club how it’s done in the big smoke, the best of the club wanted to be in the mix for the Sawpit Gully Showdown. Josh ‘Legs and Lungs’ Hopwood fresh from last weekends Mansfield Tour even traded in his marshalling duties to be a part of the now legendary Colt lead-out train and record breaking ride.

Again near perfect race conditions met the gathering field on Thursday with another still magic autumn evening. The Sawpit Gully Showdown kicked off with welcoming back Tony Morris to join David ‘Bockie’ Bock with 15.30m head start. Followed by Dave Jagger and Craig ‘The Beacon’ Wilson with a 3min handicap. John Findlay and Ian Conrick had a 1.30min gap to fill before Steve Curnow and Janine ‘She’s Apples’ Appleton headed out with another 3.00min margin to chase. Rob Skinner and Mike Pearce had agreed to work together in the handicap with the Club Crack Sprinters Darren ‘Cannon Ball’ Bakker, Tim Ross and Steve ‘The Cobbler’ Duke rolling out next.

Second last off was the famous Wolf Pack of Dave ‘Eats Gravel’ Moore, Steve ‘Everyone knows Brownie’ Brown, Chris ‘I just had Baby’ Miller and club legend Bruce ‘The Don’ Halket. While the Wolf Pack waited and sniffed the air with their 14.30min deficit they queried The Don’s selection of steel stead for the ride which mirrored a German tank in that it was a 1980’s Pinnarello frame which he kept in the back paddock for years. “Geez mate, I hope that thing can ride ok”. “She’ll be right” said The Don, “It’s of Italian bloodlines and back in the 90’s I upgraded her from a 5 speed to a 7 speed!”. Okey Dokes said the Wolf Pack with raised eyebrows and a nod but it’s gunna take a lot to hold off the Scratch team tonight. Last off was the line was champion-bred Josh ‘Legs and Lungs’ Hopwood and the big show in town of Dan ‘The Colt’ Purcell. Rumour had it that The Colt was getting married on the weekend and was using the race as part of his final weight shred for the wedding suit.

Brownie lead out the Wolf Pack with his usual selfless huge initial turn and taking on the first long hill. This set up a cracking pace as we took on the rolling climbs north on Mansfield- Whitfield Rd. I don’t think we were far past Barwite Rd before the Scratch crew were upon us. The Colt and Hopwood were grinding at a phenomenal speed as the Wolf Pack joined and tried to hang on. At this point ‘The Don’ Halket was questioning his selection of the Italian stead as he was running out of gears at such a high pace. Brownie was in great form but had burnt a few too many matches early on. Moore was holding his own putting in big turns on the front and before we knew it, we were at the turnaround point near Sawpit Gully. Thanks as always to the safety marshals making the local traffic aware of our presence.

The mob had still managed to stay away out front as the Scratch crew took the speed up another notch on the descent from the turnaround point. Looking at the speedo we were well into the mid to high 40s with Hopwood and The Colt Purcell keeping the speed, instructions and wattage high. We had sighted the mob on the flats and were at full gallop to bridge the gap sharing time on the front to our lungs capacity. Maintaining the high pace we noted that much of the mid handicap group had formed into a larger mob of 8-10 rides including Bakker, Duke, Ross, Skinner and Pearce. With momentum on our side the Scratch crew past them at full whack with only a few managing to jump on the freight train.

As the rolling hills back to town returned to view we knew that there was still 3-6 race horses up the road. We managed to catch Curnow, Findlay and Conrick with Janine ‘She’s Apples’ doing the work on the front.

The handicapper had done another fantastic job because as we crested the last of the rollers we sighted Blockie, Jagger and Craig ‘The Beacon’ Wilson on the final descent and we only just caught him before the final turn into Mt Battery Road.

We knew it was going to be a high-speed sprint to the end at which point The Colt sniffed the finish line and prepared to launch. With ‘Legs and Lungs’ Hopwood setting up the lead-out train and with Miller on his wheel, The Colt Purcell jumped with 150m to go and galloped past the final two to take the win with a crack of his stockwhip overhead. Miller second and Josh stoically third with Wilson and Jagger again holding off the rest of the field with 4th and 5th respectively. The remainder of the mob coming home in a full lather with the uphill finish line exhausting the last of their energy. Given Hopwood’s negotiated exchange of marshalling duties to assist The Colts masterly lead-out train he generously gave his race points to Bockie with a respectful nod.

The Colt was delighted with his win and was confident he had shed any final kg’s for the wedding suit – hope the wedding was a blast mate!

All riders rolled back into town to our favourite water hole The Mansfield Hotel where Steve ‘Everyone knows Brownie’ Brown hosted the club for drinks and dining – all welcome as always.

Huge thanks to all the volunteers and marshals keeping us safe out on the Mansfield roads.

MMBCC News Sunday 20th March

Howes Creek Ramble

The scene for the Howes Creek Rd Ramble was set in near perfect conditions on a still autumn evening with barley a breath of wind to bother the gathering field of riders. A few easy laps of the Lords Reserve oval got the legs pumping before kick-off with Dave Bock rolling out with a 14.30min head start.

Craig Wilson dressed in his brightest red jersey (The Red Beacon) was off next riding solo followed up by the hairy legged Tim Hall, Alex Green and John Findlay. Steve Curnow and Janine ‘She’s Apples’ Appleton took off representing the female contingent of the field. Rob Skinner and Mike Pearce had their work cut out for them with a 3.15min gap to chase down before the clubs Crack Sprint Squad of Ant Bateup and Darren Bakker fired up their engines. Finally, with a sizable 14.30min deficit the Scratch squad rolled out, fortunately the Wolf Pack was back for first time in many races with Dave Moore, Steven Brown, Bruce ‘The Don’ Halket and Chris Miller.

Brownie the big diesel led the Scratch crew out at a blistering pace as the rest of the Wolf Pack fought for who would have the great man’s wheel for the rolling turns. After the first roll Bruce ‘The Don’ was heard to muffle at speed something like “%#$@ that’s fast!!”. Before we knew it, we were approaching the Howes Creek Rd intersection and had to ease off the pace to safely navigate the corner. Thanks to the safety marshals for advising the local traffic of our presence.

The Wolf Pack were motoring along nicely remembering to look up and admire the great views of the lake and magic glowing sunset. Our spiritual leader for the night with Dave Moore celebrating is heritage roots of Irelands St Patricks Day (17th March) by sporting a suitable very Irish green flying jersey. He must have been channelling his ancestral spirits as he continued to put in huge turns on the front.

Before we knew it, we were at the turn around point a Cummins Rd and had sighted the field. Bakker and Bateup quickly joined the bunch and made some great turns on the front and we tackled the challenging hills of the return. Skinner and Pearce joined the growing group and it bridged the gap to Currnow and ‘She’s Apples’ who were holding a great pace. The large group stayed together well supporting each other during the final hilly half while merging with Findlay, Green and Hall.

For some reason I thought that we had caught all riders with 2kms to go and I could relax however out there on the distant horizon, up the road, was the great Red Beacon of Craig Wilson who was riding in outstanding form and had managed to hold off the entire field during the race. With the few remaining rolling hills to go it took all the nous of the Wolf Pack and or spiritual leader Moore to hunt down the Red Beacon. It was only on the final hill with a lead out and direct instructions from Bruce ‘The Don’ to hold his wheel as he led me onto the final climb. It slung shot me on to the hill and digging deep I managed to hold the high tempo and to just catch the Red Beacon Wilson on the crest before maintaining to the momentum to the finishing line and taking my first win of the season.

All members congratulated each other on a great race and slowly rolled back our spiritual gathering place of The Mansfield Hotel for a celebratory Irish Guinness – “Sláinte!!”

Thanks again to the fantastic work of the Commissaires, marshals and volunteers for this week’s race.   

MMBCC News Sunday 13th March

Skinner Too Strong

With the long weekend on the horizon and some of the big guns on marshalling duties, this Thursday’s night race had a reduced starting field of 15 riders, all seemingly a little anxious about wind conditions on the Barwite Loop course.

With David Bock off limit at 11.30 followed 3 minutes later by Craig Wilson at 8.30, they battled the Coombesberg hill and the wind as lone riders. The group of Tim Hall, Alex Green, Wayne Arazny and Ian Conrick where next off at 6.30 followed by Michael Pearce, Belinda Cipa and myself (Rob Skinner) at 3.30.

By the end of Graves Road Belinda was struggling with the early pace set by Mike Pearce and up ahead we could see Alex Green losing contact with his group. The Coomsberg’s Hill was making it hard for Mike on his vintage 3 speed steel bike, so I pressed on, in an attempt to catch the group ahead before the top of the hill. Too scared to look back to see where the Block group of Tim Ross, Darren Bakker, Matt Hoskin and Steve Duke were, having started 2 minutes after us and not even thinking about the scratch group of Steve Brown and Bruce Halket starting a further 1.30 minutes later.

Over the hill there was no letting up with riders hitting the Barwite Road corner at high speeds and having to work hard to keep on the right side of the white lines. Matt Hoskin found himself hitting the gravel and onto the grass before recovering and getting back into the race.

Having worked with Tim Hall for half of Barwite Road, we got our first glimpses of Willo in the distance, so it was time to kick it up a notch having Willo in my sights, catching him not long before Mansfield –Whitfield Road.

Turning into the Mansfield- Whitfield Road I had a sneaky look over the shoulder expecting to see groups closing in, but to my surprise I couldn’t see anyone and thought that maybe I’m in with a chance here. That thought quickly changed as the uphill of Whitfield Road and the head wind hit me hard. Once over the slight rise in the road I had a bit of respite and could see the lone, lonely figure of Bocky up ahead, having ridden the whole race by himself, I asked myself did I have a chance to catch him without being caught myself?

Heading down towards Mt Battery Road all I could think about was how weeks earlier I was sure Janine and I were to battle it out for first place only to get swamped by the scratch group before Mt Battery Road, however this time I was onto Mt Battery Road with only Bocky in front with 400 metres to go.

Once again the handicapper had done a brilliant job. I edged pass Bocky only to be rapidly slowing toward the finish line managing to hang on for my second win of the season, finishing seconds in front of the fast finishing Bruce Halket, Steve Duke and David Bock 4th. 50 seconds was all that separated the top 10 riders. Mike Pearce finish 5th on his 3 speed vintage steel bike ahead of Brown, Hoskin, Ross, Willo and Tim Hall, rounding out the top 10.

Bruce Halket took out the fastest time of 32.37 minutes and Tony Copland was presented with a Mansfield Hotel voucher for his fantastic photos throughout the season.

Thanks again to the Commissaires, marshals and volunteers for this week’s race.      

MMBCC News Sunday 6th March 2022

Maydena Downhill National Titles 2022

7 competitors from the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club attended the National Downhill titles on the weekend of the 20th of February.  With the club seeing some outstanding results.

The course at Maydena is steep and challenging in several spots finishing very large jumps more than 40 feet.  With a total 0f 349 competitors in the field it was very competitive in all classes.  The U/15 and U/17 classes combined alone was almost bigger than the entire XCO field so a result in this class would be outstanding. 

Results:

Matt Empey 20th Elite Men (74 competitors)

Elise Empey 1st U/19 Women

Bella Green 5th U/19 Women

Sam Mosley 12th U/17 Men

Zac Empey 33rd U/17 Men

Selina Green 2nd U/15 Women

Mt Baw Baw VDHS Downhill Results

Another sold out race for the Downhill series ensured all classes were incredibly competitive. Baw Baw didn’t disappoint. Rain and greasy conditions were the order of the day for Saturday practice. Despite the conditions everyone agreed the track was running well.

The weather conditions improved for Sunday and the track dried, and the times fell in both qualification runs, and race runs. The Mansfield crowd performing very well and certainly punching above their weight with four podiums out of the six competitors from the club.

Matt Empey’s run was the standout from the Mansfield crew with a very competitive run in Elite men, putting him on the podium for the first time.

The U/17 men’s class had 80 competitors, which makes Sam Mosley’s run an outstanding achievement as he had a huge off in practice and was a little shaken to say the least. Well done Sam.

Zac Empey raced well for 23rd with 10 competitors being within 4 seconds of each other.  So not far off the top ten.

Bella Green finally climbed onto the top step with an excellent run in Elite women. Bella has been constantly improving this season and the result is well deserved.

Selina Green raced well for third in U/15 women.

Crash of the weekend went to Elise Empey. With a spectacular cartwheel at speed at the bottom of the feared Jeep track. She brought the huge crowd to its knees with her high-speed antics. The result being a dislocated shoulder, concussion and a set of destroyed forks.

Well done everyone.

Bella Green 1st Elite Women

Elise Empey DNF

Matt Empey 4th Elite Men

Sam Mosley 3rd U/17 Men

Zac Empey 23rd U/17 Men

Selina Green 3rd U/15 Women

Cipa Prevails - Two Strong

A stellar group of 17 riders gathered at 6pm on 3rd March for the start of the scheduled Thursday night handicap road race – a 26klm out and back course on the Mansfield-Whitfield Road. With Chief Marshall Darren Bakker officiating and Mel Green on stop watch, David Bock took off on Limit, followed 5 minutes later by the 5 man group of John (strong heart now) Eisner, David (“I don’t get endorphins from exercise”) Jagger, Alex (selective efforts Irene) Green, Craig (“I hate getting dropped”) Wilson, Wayne (“I don’t want to miss my group’s start time ever again”) Arazny, and John (“I’d like to train harder”) Findlay. The female duo of Janine Appleton and Belinda Cipa followed 1 minute later. Mike Pearce and Tom MacMunn paired to follow 3min:30sec later ahead of Steve Duke and Tim Ross by 1 min:30sec. Steve Brown, David Moore and Bruce Halket were next to depart and formed a feisty Block group. Josh (last week’s Juggernaut) Hopwood and Chris (maybe time for another fastest time) Miller had to cool their jets for a further 1min:30 sec to give everyone the chance to cross the finish line first.

Once rolling, Belinda and Janine powered out to catch the bunch of 5 just before the Barwite Road intersection. By and from the turnaround at Sawpit Gully this large group worked smoothly together before eventually dropping a few and passing David Bock as the road straightened out near Bridge Creek.

Like a bunch of frenzied road runners being chased by lean, mean and savvy predators, Belinda and Janine with John Findlay, Alex Green and Wayne Arazny dug deep to hold their lead for as long as possible. With the left-hand corner onto Mt Battery Road in sight, the effort and end were almost near.

Expecting to hear the Juggernaut’s carbon rims whistling from behind, Belinda took heart from a cheery roadside shout of encouragement as she made the turn, just as a calf muscle wanted to congeal into concrete and the finish line still an agonisingly long 300metre sprint away.

With great camaraderie, Belinda took line honours from Janine in 2nd place and a strong ride by John Findlay earned him a podium finish in 3rd place.  Steve Brown was applauded for 4th place and Tom MacMunn 5th. Bruce Halket, Mike Pearce, Steve Duke, and Josh (still a Juggernaut with fastest time) Hopwood and Chris Miller rounding out the top ten placements.

At the finish, all agreed, in breathless, heaving silence, that it was a great race and a strong effort by all to finish.

Many thanks to the race Committee members, Commissaires, Marshalls, Volunteers and Supporters for running the race so smoothly and to Tony Copland for his wonderful photography. Post-race, the Committee thanked Mansfield Hotel for their sponsorship and for welcomed all for dinner and refreshments afterward.

If you think you are too old, too young, too slow, too fast, not social enough, or just too plain curious, think again. Be brave and contact the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club via their website to see what fun you can have with others on or around two wheels.

Three very exciting community events are on this month in Mansfield which showcase cycling in all its forms.

• Check out the Tour de Trail on Sunday 13th March;

• The Club’s marquee Mansfield Hotel Tour powered by Orcoda, a 3-stage road cycling event on the 19th and 20th March which will see Victorian Road Cycling Teams as well as Men’s and Women’s A, B and C grade riders challenge themselves on Graves Road, Mt. Buller Road and the majestic climb that is Mt. Buller; and

• On the 24th- 27th of March check out the incredible mountain biking skills and action on display at the Highline MTB Festival.

MMBCC News Sunday 27th February

The Juggernaut Dominates

The last few weeks of racing have been some of the best this season, with racers coming into good form as summer starts to slip away. The MMBCC were back on course 9 for a handicap race with 18 riders setting off in stormy conditions. You could feel the nervous tension in the air, one would have thought it was because of the storms rolling past Mansfield but in reality, I think it was more to do with the windy conditions that riders would be facing. Did someone say strong headwinds for the Coombesberg?

On the start list, there were some strong groups, but they would have to ride smart and as a team if they were going to hold off the Scratch and Block. First off, the line was David Bock 13.30, then Ian Conrick, David Jagger, Craig Wilson, John Finlay, and Wayne Arazny at 8.45; and then Belinda Cipa and Janine Appleton off 7.00; and then Rob Skinner and Mike Pearce 4.00; then Tom MacMunn, Darren Bakker, Steve Duke and Matt Hoskin 2.30; then the block group of Steve Brown, Dave Moore, and Liam Delaney 0.45 and finally Josh “Juggernaut” Hopwood of scratch.

Riders would enjoy a great tailwind off the start line to the turnaround and it was Belinda Cipa, Janine Appleton, and Josh Hopwood that would make the most of it. After the turnaround riders were greeted with a cross headwind and it didn’t stop there, it continued well into making the left turn into Barwite road. The race was well in its groove and riders would need to work together to have any chance for the win.

At the head of the race, Belinda Cipa and Janine Appleton had been caught by the fast-moving group of Ian Conrick, David Jagger, Craig Wilson, John Finlay, and Wayne Arazny. This was looking like the winning group for sure.

Meanwhile, Josh “Juggernaut” Hopwood was causing all sorts of damage to Block and bridging from group to group. Liam Delaney tried to go with an attack from Josh Hopwood but fell mercy to the crosshead wind and dropped back to his group. Riders were starting to make their way to the hardest part of the course “the Coombesberg” and to make it more interesting, mother nature was dishing out a brutal headwind.

Josh Hopwood could now see the small but strong group going over the Coombesberg and he would need to continue his charge over the hills to catch the front group. The leaders of Belinda Cipa, David Jagger, Wayne Arazny, John Finlay, and Janine Appleton were holding off Josh Hopwood until the last 1.5kms where he flew past them and onto his first win of the season, Janine Appleton came in second then Belinda Cipa in third.

Thank you to the officials and volunteers for an awesome race and to the Mansfield Hotel for their generous sponsorship. Thanks to Tony Copland for sharing his race photos.

Dirt Crits

Dirt Crits roll off again on Tuesday 1 March. In other news, we look forward to the race summary from Dave Impey and Alex Green from the huge efforts of all the MMBCC riders that took part in the Nationals.

MMBCC News Saturday 19th February

Winners are grinners

By Michael Pearce

All agreed the Bakker Plumbing Handicap at Jamieson is probably the best race of the season, on the best course. It starts with a relaxing drive out to Jamieson as race preparation, then a hard, fun race followed by dinner at the Jamieson Brewery.

With a full moon rising, enthusiastic officials, (thank you) and a handicap system that is getting closer to perfect every race… off we went!

Rob Skinner and I waited for three groups to go off before us: John Eisner was off Limit at 13.00; then John Findlay, Dave Jagger and Craig Wilson off 11.30; and then Steve Curnow, Belinda Cipa, her daughter Katie Cipa and Wayne Arazny off 9.00.

Wayne missed his start time and suffered trying to get back on.

Rob and I decided to race on at the half way mark and not ‘sit up’ and wait for the in form ‘awesome foursome’ of the 3.30 group, Ant Bateup, Tom MacMunn, Darren Bakker and Jarrod Appleton, who were gaining on us quickly.

It’s a bit hard to tell… but he doesn’t seem to be grinning in this pic!

Catching the front markers we knew we had a chance to hold off the looming faster riders.

The Block group of Craig Oliver, Steve Duke, Matt Hoskin, Dave Moore and Bruce Halket were caught by two thirds of Scratch ((Chris Miller and Belinda’s son-in-law Shane Marshall had just dropped Steve Brown) a little before half way. However, only Moore and Halket were able to stay with them after the turnaround.

“It was two locomotives, a few carriages and a caboose,” Wil said about the ride after the turnaround.

Rob Skinner the winner and grinner, Katie and Belinda displayed good race tactics to get 2nd and 3rd, myself 4th. Rob’s time was 58.48, an actual ride time of 50.48.

Halket got home for fifth ahead of Bateup, Miller, Appleton and Marshall. Darren Bakker, race sponsor and club spiritual guru, rounded out the top ten.

Despite a fatigue and beer-induced error at presentations, which gave fastest time to Shane Marshall, fastest time was actually ridden by Chris Miller - 45.04.

Next week’s race is from the Botanic Park, turning at Long Lane and finishing on Graves Road - see you there!

Here are the results.

Dirt Crits

After last week’s last minute cancellation, Dirt Crits will be back this coming week.

It’s a Cross Country night… watch out for Ruby! (We hear she’s quick…)

Eastern Grand Prix for Women

Eastern Cycling Club are hosting their Eastern GP (for Women only) at Casey Fields on Saturday 5 March. It’s a 3-race format with grades from A to E.

More info and entries (by Fri 4 Mar) here.

MTB Nats at Maydena

The MTB Nationals culminate this weekend with the finals of XCO on Saturday plus Downhill and XCC on Sunday. Good luck to all the MMBCCers racing.

Follow the results here.

MMBCC News Sunday 13th February

Eisner in Red Hot form

A larger field of nineteen riders rolled up for the weekly Thursday race in near-perfect, albeit slightly windy, conditions.

First off was John Eisner followed four minutes later by Alex Green, Dave Jagger, John Findlay and Ian Conrick. Further back in groups of three or four were Tim Hall, Rob Skinner, Janine Appleton, Tom MacMunn, Darren Bakker, Tim Ross, Ant Bateup, Steve Duke, Dave Moore, Damon Ginns, Matt Hoskin, Steve Brown, Chris Miller and finally Josh Hopwood chasing the whole field with a thirty second deficit.

Eisner enjoyed a solo ride until being caught by the following group heading up the Coombsberg whereupon a bit of cat and mousing ensued. Findlay was riding well and  had two bursts off the front but never got far enough off to make a clean break. In the final kilometer, Eisner took the downwind gutter and thanks to Conrick’s boxing was able to outsprint Dave Jagger with John Findlay taking out third.

In a nod to Dave Moore’s handicapping, the rest of the field pretty much had a same time finish leaving the marshals to review the video footage to determine the minor placings. Fastest was Josh Hopwood and Best effort went to Steve Duke.

Thanks to Tony Copland for sharing his race photos and to the helpers – great job thank you and a note of thanks to Michael O’Keefe , Rod Warren, and the Cardiac team at RMH!!

Please note this week’s race the “Bakker Handicap” in Jamieson, the Club has a booking from 7:45 pm. A request from the Brewery is you must order soon as you get there. Thanks.

Upcoming Events

Women’s Hanging Rock Handicap
After a one year hiatus, the famous Hanging Rock Handicap is back in 2022, and better than ever, thanks to our generous sponsors Topbike Tours (http://www.topbike.com.au), Pedla (thepedla.com) and generously supported by VicHealth and Hawthorn Cycling Club. Join Australia’s biggest and best women’s road race event!

A few members did this event in 2020 and there were over 100 women, yes that’s right over 100 women racing!!

65km women-only road race, handicap format, based at the picturesque Hanging Rock Reserve, a little over 2 hours from Mansfield.

We’ll have the same beautiful Hanging Rock backdrop for registration and post-race celebrations, coffee cart, catering, and more.

Females only, 15yrs+

Licences - new!

Keen to race but you dont have licences??? Well AusCycling have a free 4-week trial licence available to anyone via this link - https://auscycling.tidyhq.com/public/membership_levels/4a938f38233d

More information via EntryBoss.

Racing News

The Tour of Gippsland is off to a great start today with Talia Appleton taking 3rd place in the U19 women’s stage 1, with 2 more stages to come. Great effort!! You can find the live results here.

Tour of Gippsland - Stage 1 podium. L-R Isabelle CARNES (QLD), Bronte STEWART (NSW), Talia APPLETON (VIC)

Spare a thought for the race behind the race, the logistical nightmare, massive shout-out to all the support crews that pull it all together for race day. Here you can see the Appleton’s loaded up heading for Gippsland and the Dobson’s cruising off to Tasmania. Good luck to all the MMBCC members racing this week and the crews taking on the 2022 AusCyling Mountain National Championships at Maydena park in Tasmania. Results can be found here during the week.

MMBCC News Sunday 6th February

A Nice Night for Nicknames

By Dario Cipollini (Mario’s chubby little brother)

A perfect temperature and windy conditions greeted the 13 racers on the start line at Lords Ground.

First off was John Eisner all by himself at 14.30, he was in for a hard ride but was looking fit. Next was Ian Conrick and David Jagger at 10.30 followed by Micheal Pearce and Steve Curnow at 7.30. Next was Team Smooth: Steve Duke, Ant Bateup, Tim Ross and Darren Bakker at 4 minutes. Then the next to go was team Power of Chris Miller, Bruce Halket, Steve Brown and Dave Moore at 3.30. The lonely Scratch rider was Josh ‘the Freak’ Hopwood. 

This is what scratch rider Josh ‘the Freak Hopwood looks like riding solo.

All riders were doing it tough into the head wind on the way out, especially Eisner, who was doing a great job staying out in front of the other groups until after the turn around. 

Meanwhile Team Smooth were motoring along; they caught Curnow and Pearce just before the turnaround and could see Jagger and Ian ‘the Hitman’ Conrick just behind Eisner who’d already rounded the corner. 

After the turn for home Team Smooth lit it up with the tail wind but could see Team Power with all their riders and Josh had nearly bridged to them. Team Power sent Steve ‘the Beast’ Brown to the front to engage warp speed to try and bridge the gap to Team Smooth. 

Meanwhile Team Smooth had picked up the rest of the field and were leading the race; Mick ‘the Hardman’ Pearce was still hanging in and swapping a few turns on his home track. 

Team Smooth powering their way towards the finish line.

Team Power had been caught by Josh and were starting to think they could feature in the finish. Could Team Smooth hold off the rampaging chasers? 

Five hundred metres the finish Team Smooth were still by themselves. That’s when Tim ‘the Tank Engine’ Ross went to the front and kicked in the turbo with the others barely hanging on to his wheel.

With 200m to go Ant ‘the Young Bull’ Bateup went to the front and wound it up even more, overtaking Tim with Darren ‘Fat Boy’ Bakker and Steve ‘Speedy Gonzales’ Duke in tow. 

With a hundred to go Bakker kicked but couldn’t gap the Young Bull; it was a drag race side by side with Bakker winning by the slimmest of margins. They were followed by Duke and Ross. 

Miller and Hopwood came in just 7 seconds behind followed closely by the rest of the riders. 

Thank you to the officials and volunteers for an awesome race and to the Mansfield Hotel for their generous sponsorship. Thanks to Tony Copland for sharing his viewpoint from his camera lens.

Next week we’re racing on Whitfield Road, turning around at Long Lane and finishing on Graves Road - a ‘fun’ course which will give everyone a chance - even those without a nickname. 

Dirt Crits Returns

Dirt Crits will start again this Tuesday 8th Feb, and it will be an event from the pain cave. Let’s see what we can devise for the first race back. Let’s see who has been doing sneaky kilometers over the break.

Upcoming Events
We have a large contingent of competitors travelling to Maydena, Tasmania for the Auscycling Mountain Bike National Championships commencing on the 14th of February.  The week-long event will take place at Maydena Bike Park north of Hobart.  It will be the largest number of competitors from MMBCC ever to attend a national title event.  Our strong team of riders includes:

Ruby Dobson – XCO, XCC

Bella Green – Downhill

Selina Green – Downhill

Sam Mosley – Downhill

Zac Empey – Downhill

Elise Empey – Downhill

Matt Empey – Downhill

It is exciting for the club, and I can’t wait to see how they all perform. 

Victorian State Championships - XCO

The Victorian State Championship (XCO) was announced Tuesday last week with a long run into the Saturday race for training and preparation! While it was tacked onto an existing Vic Championship Series event it was not one that the Dobsons intended to get to…. the race was located at the Red Hill MTB Park in Dormana on the Mornington Peninsula and supported by the Red Hill Riders Club.

Beautiful morning and a fantastic course with a long climb from the start straight into a flowing single-track course with a mix of technical (rooty) and constructed single track culminating in a rough, rocky descent. Course length for U19s through to Masters AB was a bit over 7 km with a lap time between 25 and 35 minutes depending on what vitamins you take.

Limited field of women starting in Ruby’s wave. She was one of two U19s with another 7 Elites on the field. Ruby had a great start, hit the climb in front, and kept going from there. She had widened the lead by the time she got to the top of the descent.

I recall this bit of the track from our recce lap earlier in the day. There is a huge difference in your descent experience based on the line you pick. This is a particular issue as the turn into this section is fast with a barbed wire fence on your left and a paved section of track with an abrupt drop off. Tricky.

Ruby hit the corner running hot, took the line along the fence and the worst hit of the drop and came off the side of the bike. The small red battery that operates the rear derailleur objected to the situation and decided to disappear into the scrub.

Ten minutes later…. The battery reappears and Ruby’s back on her bike. Longest first lap ever and an insurmountable gap to make up on the Elites. This wasn’t helped by ongoing changing issues (bent hanger), but she still managed good lap times.

Not the race that Ruby planned for but nevertheless still first over the line for U19 and valuable lessons learnt before Maydena. Also, no stitches… yay!

MMBCC News Sunday 30th January

Road Race

By Michael Pearce.
Five kilometres east of Mansfield is Graves Road, a peaceful, quiet road, perfect for testing 14 riders on a hilly TT course in a warm 27 degrees. Commissionaires calm, marshals scurrying off to their important spots on the course (no time to wave and say thanks tonight sorry) another great job from you all.
The ITT is perfect for showing who’s strongest and fittest.

A generous handicap for me, must be my old bike and lacking deep-dish, fancy carbon wheels gave me the win. Steve Curnow 2nd, Bruce Halket 3rd, Ant Bateup 4th, Conner Rate 5th and fastest. Conner’s handicap was severe because of his impressive stationary bike warm up and a deluxe, fast Giant TT bike.

Kudos to Ruby Dobson who found time in a busy training schedule to ride a fast time and smile at the finish line. Best dressed went to Ian Conrick… because at least he was fully dressed this time!
We are always welcomed back into town at the Mansfield Hotel for a meal, cold drinks and the nights placings. Thanks to all the other riders for a great turn out, good bunch, great club!

Many thanks to Tony Copland for the photos and our race officials, without you we have no racing!!

Next week will see the MMBCC head to course 10 on the fast Howes Creek - Cummins road return. To make sure races start on time, you must enter by 8pm on the Wednesday before the race or you won’t get a start! Entries will be taken on Team App – click ‘Store’ then click the race you want to enter, click add to cart, click your cart (top right) then checkout and pay.

Dirt Crits

If you're looking for some dirt action, racing returns Tuesday 8th February.

Eastern Cycling Club

Well done to Steve Duke 5th and Dave Moore 1st for taking on the most famous crit course in Melbourne yesterday, hosted by Eastern Cycling Club. Surely the MMBCC handicapper has Dave and Steve on their radar.
If your looking for some additional racing head to EntryBoss and look for Eastern Cycling, Northern Cycling, and Northern Combine as they often have racing around Seymour, Yarra Glen, Broadford, and Avenel.